Posted on March - 20 - 2011
RI.gov earns a C- for government spending transparency
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island earned a C- for its transparency related to government spending, according to a second annual report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group released last week.
“The good news is that since last year’s report, state governments across the country have become far more transparent about where the money goes,” said Phineas Baxandall, senior analyst for tax and budget policy at US PIRG, “But Rhode Island still has a long way to go.”
The report – Following the Money 2011: “How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data” – ranks Rhode Island’s transparency website, www.ri.gov/opengovernment/, as “emerging” but not a “leader” due to serious deficiencies.
The states that were most open about their spending included: Kentucky, Texas, Indiana, Arizona, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon. On the other hand, those earning F’s on this year’s report were: Maine, Iowa, Arkansas, West Virginia, Washington, Montana, New Hampshire, Idaho and North Dakota.
Of the 12 categories that Rhode Island could earn points toward improving its score, it earned zeros in five of them, noting the website is void of: contract or summary information is included with expenditures; the state’s tax expenditure report is linked on the transparency site; expenditures from quasi-public agencies are included; a link is provided to the state’s website that tracks funding related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; and financial information for local governments is included on the websites.
Massachusetts’ transparency website earned a B+. The Bay State debuted its transparency portal in 2010 along with: Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
The report said there was “remarkable progress” across the country, finding 40 states now provide “checkbook level” detail on online database of government expenditures. The best transparency tools were highly searchable, engaged citizens and included detailed information about government contracts, tax expenditures, tax subsidies and economic development incentives.
“Given the current severity of our budget problems, Rhode Islanders need to be able to follow the money,” said Baxandall.
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